April 2, 2018 UPDATE

Prosecutor General Augustin Lazăr asks for completion of criminal prosecution in the Revolution Case

Newsroom, 02.04.2018, 19:36

Prosecution — Romania’s Prosecutor General Augustin Lazăr on Monday conveyed to the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis a request for completing the criminal prosecution in the Revolution Case, which investigates the events that led to the collapse of the Communist regime in December 1989. In the Revolution Case, the highest-ranking officials of the leftist power that took power immediately after the fall of Communism, namely Ion Iliescu, a former president, Petre Roman, a former prime minister, and Gelu Voican Voiculescu, a former deputy prime minister, are accused of crimes against humanity. According to prosecutors, the armed incidents that took place after December 22 in many localities across Romania show that they were prepared in advance, according to a well-established plan, aimed at giving the power to the new leaders and legitimizing them. We recall that the European Court of Human Rights condemned Romania for postponing a resolution in the Revolution Case. According to the Court, the importance of this case for the Romanian society should have motivated the authorities to solve the case urgently. According to official statistics in December 1989 over 1,100 people were killed and as many as 3 thousand were wounded.

EU Funds — The Romanian Minister for European Funds Rovana Plumb announced Monday that Romania attracted almost 47 billion Euros worth of European funds in 10 years of EU membership. According to Minister Plumb in the current funding program Romania intends to have an absorption rate of 100% by 2023. Rovana Plumb added that in April several calls for projects would be made, including projects related to the continuation of support for big companies.

Tennis — The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep is the leader of the WTA world classification made public on Monday, with more than 1,300 points ahead of the 2nd ranked player Danish Caroline Wozniacki. All in all, Simona Halep has been the leader of the WTA ranking for 21 weeks. The other 5 Romanian tennis players in the Top 100 are Sorana Cîrstea, 34th in the WTA classification, Irina Begu ranked 38th, Mihaela Buzărnescu on 39th position, Monica Niculescu ranked 65th and Ana Bogdan on 90th position. (news updated by Lacramioara Simion)